Form One Entrants

[ . BACK to Worldkigo TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Form One entrants and monolisation

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Hot dry season
***** Category: Humanity

*****************************
Explanation

The Kenyan school year starts in January. New students entering Form One of secondary school (usually aged 14 or over), register in January and start classes at the beginning of February.

This is a very big step for a Kenyan student. Form One entry, in modern Kenya, functions as the equivalent of circumcision, i.e. entry into adulthood. People may or may not practice circumcision or other rites of passage -- either way, initial research has found that the transition between primary school and secondary school has come to resemble these older practices. This is expressed by massive parties (so-called “bashes”) held by the youth, largely without adult supervision, as well as by the short-term victimisation (so-called “monolisation”) of the new Form One students by their predecessors. Sometimes, things can go wrong (see article below).

The end of primary school is achieved by a national examination, the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE). Only about 50 percent of students passing this examination find places in secondary schools -- the other 50 percent dropping out either because they have not achieved the necessary points for the limited number of places, or because they cannot raise the necessary fees.

While primary education (eight years, from age 6 to age 14 or over) is now free of charge in Kenya, secondary education is subsidised but fee-paying. Many bright students, who cannot find a scholarship or a sponsor, drop out at this stage, even though they might have had the points to enter a recognised secondary school.

Bahati High School, in Kayole, Nairobi, being run by volunteers, is able to provide education at low cost, and can therefore offer places to the children of the community without being selective as regards points. This school started the Bamboochas Haiku Poetry Club at the start of 2006. Now, one year later, is the first time that the Bamboochas have welcomed new Form One entrants.

This coincides with the exciting moment when the school is building a corrugated iron laboratory as its contribution to recognition as an exam centre for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) from the end of 2007.

Secondary school involves many changes for the new entrants. The style of the uniform changes (dresses are replaced by skirts, shorts by trousers, checked cloth is out while plain colours are in, both girls and boys wear ties), many new subjects appear (history, geography, the sciences), English becomes the language of instruction for all, and this may be the first time that the students meet classmates from other parts of the country, speaking a different mother tongue.

All the haiku collected below were written by the Form One entrants themselves -- brand new haijin. They convey the atmosphere so well -- please enjoy reading their work!


Bahati High School

Text and photo : © Isabelle Prondzynski

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

School where boys have to be 'men'
Daily Nation, 15 February 2007
By: PATRICK MUTHURI and MUCHEMI WACHIRA

The excitement that comes with joining Form One was evident on the faces of the young students as they were guided by their parents through the gates of Kiriani Boys Secondary School in Meru South District last week. They were excited to be joining secondary school and many of the parents had toiled hard to meet the many expenses that come with sending children to high school.

The usual words of advise for the students to take their studies seriously could be heard as the parents bid their children goodbye and left them behind.

But 25 of the parents could not believe their eyes when three days later, their children arrived home, carrying all their belongings and a letter from the principal, Mr Ngaruthi Kithinji, saying they could not be allowed in the school because they were not circumcised. They were lost for words.

Even if they were to take their sons to be circumcised, it would take no less than a month for them to heal enough to resume studies. Meanwhile, other students would be going on with learning.

But Mr Kithinji said the presence of the uncircumcised boys in the school could lead to unrest. "There was a lot of screaming and disturbances when your son was discovered to be the way he is. Just like you cannot keep your elder son who is uncircumcised in the same room with your younger son, this also applies in the dorms," Mr Kithinji said. He told the parents of the affected children to have them circumcised in two weeks and take them back to school when they get well.

The parents are now appealing to the Government to intervene.

Trouble started on their first night in school. The older boys ordered the newcomers to strip naked so that they could be inspected. Those who were not circumcised spent the whole night going through all manner of torture and insults. Says one of the boys: "The first night was very bad. We were never given a chance to rest or sleep even after the long journey. They started shouting and asking us silly questions like are you a man or a woman?"

The following day, they reported the matter to the principal, who instead of assisting them, sent them home.

The Meru South district commissioner, Mr William Kiprono, ordered the immediate reinstatement of the students, saying it was wrong to take such a discriminative action. "Circumcision is a cultural thing not accepted in some societies. It's wrong to chase students from a public school because it is not government policy," said Mr Kiprono, while apologising to the students and their parents. "The bullies were the ones to be sent off and not the other way round," he said.

But even as Education minister George Saitoti was condemning the action by the headteacher, the students demonstrated in his support yesterday afternoon.
... //www.nationmedia.com/

*****************************
Worldwide use


*****************************
Things found on the way


*****************************
HAIKU

By Patrick Wafula
Patron of the Bamboocha Haiku Club, Bahati High School

The New Bamboochas, who number about 40, have been taking their first lesson in haiku this week. First, it was Form One West, then Form One East. On Ash Wednesday (21 February 2007), I spent the lunch hour with Form One West, giving them their first haiku lesson. It was a great joy and experience. We wrote the first haiku together as a class; the rest were written individually.

Form One East took their lesson three days later. The new haijin have been writing about the new school year and their experiences in Bahati High School. They are such a bundle of joy! Some of their experiences are hilarious, others are pitious, but each of these experiences are true.

Fasting and Prayer day (Wednesday 21/02/07)

The Form One West had their first prayer and fasting experience and they wrote about it in their very first haiku the next day :

Mr. Wafula
taking photos of
the new lab

in the school kitchen --
Sharon happily biting
a huge chapati

from the kitchen,
delicious scent of chapati --
a rumbling stomach

a student
giving a testimony...
hymns are sung

Mr. Wafula
praying for sponsorships...
moment of silence

Mr. Wafula
taking photos --
students praying

~ Class


Patrick Wafula Sensei with his camera
Photo (c) Isabelle Prondzynski


in the kitchen --
people eat chapati
revenging for Wed

~ Timothy Wambugu

(On Thursday, students were eating chapati to compensate for what they missed to eat the previous day during the fasting and prayer)


first year in Bahati
prayers and fasting --
my grumbling stomach

~ Josephat Mwangi

students making noise --
their cries as Mr. Macharia
beats them

students dozing
during History lesson --
the teacher's shouts

~ Steven Nzomo


a teacher with a sad face
going back to the staffroom...
what stupid students

~ Shadrack Masai Mwengi

in the sitting room --
we happily take breakfast
with my family

~ Mercy Karanin

Mr. Ogembo writing
on the blackboard --
students laughing

last lesson to lunch...
bored students wait to go
for lunch

students laugh
as Mr. Ogembo says gaii...
geography lesson

~ Samuel Ndung'u

Mr. Macharia in class...
students sleeping on the desk
and they get strokes

~ Gerald Kariuki

students rejoice
around the new laboratory --
praise for Isabelle

~ Caren Cheptoo

students laugh
and cheer up --
last lesson to break

~ Vivian Adhiambo

in class
Beatrice cries like a baby --
corporal punishment

~ Jonah Kamande


at the school kitchen
people carry plates and spoons --
chapati in hand

at home --
my brother happily runs
to me for a kiss

at the shop --
a long queue of people
waiting to buy goods

everybody quietly settled,
writing and reading stories --
library lesson

~ Anne Wairimu


Constructing the new laboratory
Photo (c) Patrick Wafula



NEW SCHOOL YEAR HAIKU (Form One East)

new different
school rules…
Discipline Prefects

smell of my
new school ID…
smell of sewage

~ Christine Minae

first time
to wear trousers…
my new uniform

in the school kitchen,
big transparent chapatis…
smell of food

~ Peter Mwangi

new school lab --
teacher lights the Bunsen burner,
for students doing experiments

many students
of different tribes --
Bahati High School

many rules to keep --
if you break one,
punishment

~ Dorothy Nthenya


first day
in Bahati High School --
different daily menu

meeting
and making new friends…
first day in Bahati

~ Brian Mwangi


school kitchen --
much tasteless
rice

first day in Bahati --
smell of new
textbooks

first time
to wear a tie --
Bahati High

~ Rose Mwikali


many tribes of students --
my first day in
Bahati High School

first time to
own school ID --
Bahati High school

first time
to meet Discipline Prefects …
Bahati High School

in the lab,
Rose holding a gas jar …
first Chemistry Lesson

~ Eunice Mwema


first time in school kitchen --
many students enjoying
different menu

first day in Bahati --
many new classrooms
with different arrangements

first day in Bahati --
students in the lab,
smell of chemicals

~ Truphosah .I. Osendi

many different subjects…
first time in Bahati
High School

many new students
confused like lost
sheep in a forest

greedy Form Four
students in the kitchen --
first day in High School

~ Michael Bwoga

confused like a maggot
in a demolished toilet --
first day in High School

~ Sheillah Shikawa

many tribes of students --
communication problems
between Luo, Kikuyu, Kamba and Luhya

~ Rhodah Ndindah

smell of my
new uniforms --
first day in Form One

first day
in High School --
meeting different tribes

in Bahati School,
talking nicely to students --
Discipline Prefects

seventh week
in Bahati School --
new lab built

first time
to carry student ID --
Bahati School

~ Maxiwell Omondi

black water
flowing down along Soweto --
smell of sewage

many new faces,
different languages --
first time at Bahati

many new
scaring subjects --
biology, geography

~ Catherine Wanjiku


hardworking teachers,
teaching all the subjects --
students nodding

~ Jane Mumbua

students struggle
to keep school rules --
speaking English all the time

~ Nelius Muthoni

time keeper
ringing the bell --
lesson after lesson

~ Alice Wambui

ndengu and chapati,
ndengu and chapati for lunch --
rumble of my stomach

first time
to see black water --
sewage river

~ Patrick

time keeper
ringing the bell --
change of lessons

in our class,
calculations --
first Maths lesson

first time to see
scientific calculator --
first Math lesson

Discipline Prefects
in Bahati School --
many rules to keep

~ George Onyango

James holding
a ruled exercise book --
second Math lesson

~ Ashitwa Douglas

in Bahati School,
Discipline Prefects --
respect

new black
and blue uniforms --
rule of smartness

different daily menu --
day after day
in the kitchen

first day in
Bahati High School --
miss my primary friends

new school,
new faces --
curious feelings

~ Alice Nyambura


Fasting and praying -- the Bahati students
Photo (c) Patrick Wafula

cooks serving
too little food --
sulky faces

first day
in High School --
equipped lab

many students
with different talents --
karate team

~ Raphael

on the assembly
the school is attentive --
raising the flag

in the kitchen --
students queue at the door
waiting to be served

ringing of the bell
by the time keeper…
change of lessons

~ Risper

black skirt blue blouse
blue tie black shoes white socks --
my new uniforms

~ Joyce Atolwa

first time
to learn Biology --
smell of my new uniform

smell of new books --
rules to follow
and keep

~ Caroline Ndegwa

hardworking teachers
of Bahati High School—
no idle lesson

new classroom
arrangements --
first day in Bahati

~ Lagat Amos

in the school office --
Mr. Wafula give us five five
for noise-making

Kamba, Luo, Luhya
and Kikuyu all meet --
Bahati School

~ George Ngamau

first time
to see Luhyas --
Bahati School

in school kitchen --
the chef gives me soup
without chapati

first time
to see a microscope --
school lab

senior students
steal form one books --
monolisation

~ Steven Nzomo


first time to see
many discipline prefects --
Bahati school

~ Mary Wangari

many students
with different talents --
the volleyball team

so many rules
to remember and keep --
discipline

~ Cynthia Adhiambo

girls wearing skirts
and boys wearing trousers --
new uniforms

~ Nancy Kamene

school kitchen --
meat stew tasting
delicious in my mouth

~ Moses Makule

many students
with different talents --
the football team

~ Muhia

in the lab
our teacher mixing chemicals --
first chem. practical

school kitchen,
watery rice with no fat --
rumble of my stomach

~ Joseph Mumo


the good feel and smell
of my new student ID --
first year in Bahati

~ Anonymous

first time to cross
the sewage river by bridge --
way to Bahati High

rice and cabbage
rice and cabbage for lunch…
rumble of my stomach

~ Grace Ruguru

second day --
welcomed with strokes (from Mr. Wafula)
for noise-making

new subjects,
harsh teachers,
and kind students

in the kitchen—
tasteless rice without
fat and spoon

~ Serah Wanjiku

first time
to join a drama club --
Bahati High

first time
to have school ID --
Bahati school

first time to wear
a skirt, blouse and tie --
Bahati uniform

~ Serah Mbuthi

bad smell of sewage,
but Christian students --
first day in Bahati High

smell of new books,
discipline prefects
and hardworking teachers

many different rules to keep --
different toilets,
different daily menu

~ Rachael Wangechi

many surprising…
subjects keep me reading
all the time

first time to mix
with students of many tribes --
learning in Bahati

first time
to be photographed --
school ID

~ Winnie Wairimu

Kamau holding
a test tube --
new laboratory

~ Robert Foro

*****************************
Related words

***** Start of School Year, School Year starts (Kenya)

***** School exams KCSE / KCPE (Kenya)

***** Ash Wednesday


[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::　

Flies in Kenya

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO　　TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::　

Flies, Fly

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Animal

*****************************
Explanation


Flies as a Kigo

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I am sure that we can get a lot of good, satirical and humorous haiku on flies!
May be there being a lot of garbage in Nairobi could make it more appropriate kigo
especially at this time when the government is thinking of getting rid of the largest garbage dump in Kenya: The Dandora Garbage dump!
It is estimated that it would cost the government about 13 billion shillings to manage the Nairobi wastes alone!....

Patrik Wafula, December 2006

*****************************
Worldwide use

Japanese Kigo for all Summer

Flies in Japan

Flyswatter in Japan


*****************************
Things found on the way


*****************************
HAIKU

ouch!
a mosquito bit me
its painful

fracas
as mosquitoes riot
against raid

- "Raid" is an insecticide in Kenya and the haiku is about "Raid" advertisement that we see on T.V

Caleb David Mutua

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

a swarm of houseflies
on cobs and leftovers--
green maize

David Wandera

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

flies everywhere -
as i try to kill one
i slap my face

Adelaide Luvandale

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

in the kitchen
a drawer filled with oranges --
safe from the flies

They are tiny fruit flies, and would just love to find a crack in the orange skins!

Isabelle Prondzynski

*****************************
Related words

***** Mosquitoes in Kenya


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Back to the Worldkigo Index

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

First Rainfall

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO　　TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::　

First rainfall, first rain, and related kigo

***** Location: Kenya, other regions
***** Season: Start of Short Rains,
..................... Start of Long Rains
***** Category: Heavens

*****************************
Explanation

Just as Japanese haijin write about "first sunrise", "first calligraphy", and the many other "firsts" of the new year, Kenya haijin write about "first rainfall" -- those very first hours of the eagerly awaited rainy season. It is very clear to anyone living here when the real rains have started and when they are about to start, with a raindrop here, and a slight drizzle there, as may happen for a week or longer before the actual first rainfall.

The first rainfall usually comes in the evening after dark --it lashes down, thick and heavy, and probably lasts a few hours at least. Everyone takes notice -- standing and breathing in the rainy air, and thinking about all the work that will result, now that the rains have come.



The first heavy rain usually brings out the termites, which fly into the dusk and up to any electric light, and which get devoured by frogs, gekkos and other waiting animals. There are some people, particularly in Uganda, who value the flying termites as a source of protein, catch them and have a feast.

The first rains usually bring about power failures too, as weak cables succumb to the rains and need to be repaired. Drains need to be cleared, roads get flooded, public transport fares rise and traffic jams stretch way into the night. The first rains are usually a major item on the evening news, and reporters speak about all the difficulties they have caused. “When it does not rain, the poor suffer, and when it rains, the poor suffer too”, a wise man I know said some years back.

The first rainfall binds the dust but, because of the preceding drought, it does not immediately lead to the formation of mud, as the following day’s sunshine will quickly dry the soil again.

Once the soil has become a bit softer, the ibises return to the grassy areas and eagerly search with the beaks for worms and other delicacies.

Mosquitoes do not come out until the rains have lasted for a week or more -- so the first rainfall is still mosquito-free. Plants do not start to grow visibly until the rain has lasted a week or more. Nor do bullfrogs come out of their muddy hideouts until the rains are established -- when they start to croak, the first rainfall is over.



Text and photo : Isabelle Prondzynski, 2006



*****************************
Worldwide use


*****************************
Things found on the way


*****************************
HAIKU

Imminent rains (26 to 31 October 2006)
-----------------------------------

rain in the air --
seated on soda crates
three young men chat

donkeys and carts
at Hope Filling Station --
first raindrops

waiting for the rain --
the blue patch in the sky
grows larger


First rainfall (1 November 2006)
-----------------------------

first rainfall --
surrounded by sleep and
a steady downpour

first rainfall --
the camel foot flowers
look brighter too

first raindrops --
lined up like pearls on
my clothesline




first rain --
the soft tread of the soil
underfoot

Haiku and photo :
Isabelle Prondzynski (October/November 2006)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

first rains-
jacket hawkers move
from door to door

Patrick Wafula

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

an old man smiles --
rain drops wipe and sweep away
a huge lump of dust

Gideon Gichamba (Peacock)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

no place to pass through --
the first floor corridor
forms a stagnant pond

Catherine Njeri Maina (Bamboocha)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

early morning
preparing our shambas --
sleeping times decrease

Sobaha Wairimu (Bamboocha)
(shamba is Swahili for garden or field)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

under the bed
I search for my gumboots --
rain has started

Beth Mwangi (Peacock)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

raindrops cling to grass
catch the sunbeams sending
lights that dazzle eyes

Raymond Otieno (Bamboocha)




*****************************
Related words


***** Ibis (Hadada)

***** Umbrella

***** Monsoon ..(India, South Asia)


***** .. .. .. .. Rain in various KIGO (Japan)


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::　

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO　　TOP . ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::　

Emancipation Day

[ . BACK to Worldkigo TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Emancipation Day

***** Location: Trinidad and Tobago
***** Season: Rainy Season (summer equivalent)
***** Category: Observance

*****************************
Explanation




In 1833 Thomas Buxton presented The Emancipation Bill in Parliament.
The Act was passed and came into effect on 1 August 1834. On that day,thousands of slaves in the British West Indies became free men and women.

August 1st is a public holiday in Trinidad and Tobago; in 1985 the government of Trinidad and Tobago declared Emancipation Day a national holiday, to commemorate the abolition of slavery.

Days leading up to August 1st there are historical lectures, films, drama and afrocentric exhibitions of arts and crafts.

Gillena Cox

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::






Quote
Posted By: History

On August 1, 1985, Trinidad and Tobago became the first country in the world to declare a national holiday to commemorate the abolition of slavery.

Obviously, we celebrate the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1834. However, individual colonies in British North America (which later became the United States of America) abolished slavery, beginning with Rhode Island in 1774. The first national abolition was declared in the French Revolution of 1789, and maintained afterward only in the independent Republic of Haiti.

Slavery was abolished permanently in the French Empire in 1848, in the Spanish Empire in 1880, and in Brazil in 1888. (Brazil is central, since it received more than one-third of all Africans imported in the slave trade).

Also, while we do not often think beyond the European-Atlantic slave trade, the Middle Eastern trade in African slaves also was significant. Opposition to slavery in Africa and Asia was not as strong as it was in the Caribbean, Europe and the United States.

Saudi Arabia and Angola abolished slavery officially only in the 1960s. Although legal slavery by then had probably ceased to exist, some Berber peoples continued to own slaves until at least 1975, and in areas of Africa and Asia, authentic slavery still exists surreptitiously.

Emancipation's worldwide significance is undoubtedly vital. However, in Trinidad (as opposed to Trinidad and Tobago), we should recognise that our historical experience does not neatly fit the wider one. As Dr Eric Williams, first Prime Minister of Trinidad, noted, Trinidad in 1833, was not a plantation society; it was a society of small estates operated by a few slaves. The average slave owner had seven slaves in Trinidad, as compared to 24 in Tobago.

According to Dr Williams, Trinidad had a mere 17,439 slaves at Emancipation, as opposed to Jamaica, which had 254,310, slaves, or British Guiana, which had 69,579. In addition, in Trinidad there were three domestic slaves for every 10 field slaves, as compared with a ratio of under two to 10 in Jamaica and one to 10 in British Guiana. Moreover, the British annexation of Trinidad came at a time when English opposition to slavery was winning popular approval. As a result, Trinidad was administered as a Model Colony, in respect of legislation governing the treatment of slaves.

Read more HERE !
©　TrinidadandTobagoNews.com

*****************************
Worldwide use



　Emancipation Day, Guyana
Season: Dry Season, August 1



*****************************
Things found on the way


*****************************
HAIKU

rainy Emancipation day
sunny smiles of
women in parade

Emancipation day Haiga

gillena cox, 2007


*****************************
Related words

***** Independence Day - worldwide



Back to the Worldkigo Index
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Dust

[ . BACK to TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Dust (Swahili : tifutifu)

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Cool dry season, hot dry season
***** Category: Heaven

*****************************
Explanation

The dust of the two dry seasons in Kenya is the counterpart of the mud of the rainy seasons. In both cases, it is the state of soil corresponding to the season.


Maasai cattle stirring up the dust on the football field

Kenyan dust mostly consists of soil particles. As the dry season progresses, the soil dries out, and its particles are blown here and there. Dust fills the air, it clings to clothes and hair, and it causes the coughs and colds of the dry season. Any shower is welcome, as it lays the dust... at least for a while.

Householders and their domestic staff sweep the compounds every day, to keep the dust under control. Cars are washed every day to rinse off the dust. Every hairwash leaves a basin of brown water.

The trademark of the Kenya Safari Rally seems to be pictures of race cars, each followed by a swirl of dust.

Text and photo : © Isabelle Prondzynski

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



East African Safari Rally

©　PHOTO www.eastafricansafarirally.com


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



*****************************
Worldwide use

Japan

spring dust, shunjin 春塵 (しゅんじん)
haru no chiri 春の塵（はるのちり）
harubokori 春埃（はるぼこり）

sand storm, sajin arashi 砂じんあらし（さじんあらし）
suna arashi砂あらし（すなあらし）
Yellow Sand, koosa　黄砂 coming from the deserts of China all the way to Japan



春塵や東京はわが死にどころ　
shunjin ya Tookyoo wa waga shinidokoro　　

spring dust -
Tokyo is the place
of my death

Suzuki Masajo 鈴木真砂女
Tr. Gabi Greve



Takano Sujuu (Takano Suju)and his
Spring Dust Haiku



　春塵の鏡はうつす人もなく　　　　　　
山口青邨

　釈迦の掌の生命線に春ぼこり　　　
吉水就子


.................................................................................


塵の身のちりより軽き小てふ哉
chiri no mi no chiri yori karuki kochoo kana


a body of dust
lighter than dust...
little butterfly

Kobayashi Issa
Tr. David Lanoue


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Yemen

dust clouds
kigo for summer

Especially during summer, when loads of dust are in the air, it is rather uncomfortable and many Tihamis suffer from infected eyes.

dust clouds
up to the Highlands
burning eyes

Heike Gewi, Yemen, 2009

YEMEN SAIJIKI



*****************************
Things found on the way


*****************************
HAIKU

dusty morning --
four sparrows splash
in car wash water

(8th place, May 2007 Shiki Kukai)
http://www.haikuworld.org/kukai/archive.may2007.html


drought in the city --
even the bird bath
full of dust


Bird bath of All Saints' Cathedral Nairobi, full of dust
Photo © Isabelle Prondzynski

dusty wind --
a street trader selling
mugs without handles

dusty matatu --
people breathing inside
to edge it forward

~ Isabelle Prondzynski

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

a flea crawling
on top of my book --
our dusty classroom

~ Timothy Wambugu


my sister
dusting her open shoes --
Saturday date

~ Catherine Maina


father dusting
his bible and humming a hymn --
Sunday morning

~ Gladys Naomi


dust
on the grass --
sports day

~ Sebastian Kimey


Dusty football practice
Photo © Isabelle Prondzynski



on the dusty road --
a street child limps
from jigger bites

~ Simon Magak


grey donkey --
rocking in the dust
to remove fleas

~ Elkana Mogaka


flea swatting
on the mattress --
dusty bedroom

~ Anne Wairimu


tall giraffe
along a dusty road --
tourist drive

~ Elungata Barrack


colonial bridge
crossing pedestrians over the
dusty railway station

~ Gideon Gichamba


hotter days
dusty environment
sick throats

~ Annastacia Muthoni


my shoes,
after arriving at school --
very dusty

~ Anne Wairimu


Dusty footpath
Photo © Isabelle Prondzynski



oh rain come
dust everywhere we go or sit
catching flu

~ Dorine Atieno


black shoes
turn brown --
dust all over

~ Mary Sharon Kaleche


the wind blows
carrying papers and soil --
it's dusty

~ Stephen Sigo


very dry --
cattle running across the field
leaving dust behind

~ Rhodah


brown sweat drops --
hawkers rest under the
dusty acacia tree

~ Hussein Hadji


dust --
white shoes
turn brown

~ Joan


a hot calm day
cattle walking on the path
brown dust behind

~ Angeline


after the rally
dusty cars
on the ramp

~ Sebastian


happy winners
on the dusty cars
pouring champagne

~ Hussein Hadji


a lorry passes
along the road --
dusty air to breathe

~ Opondo Mourice


dusty shoes --
wind blows across
sports ground

~ Khadijah


on a dusty road
rally cars speed up
dust rises

~ Kamau


papers fly
dust fills my eyes
wind blows

~ Yammame


vehicle move
along murram roads
dust all over

~ Fred Okido


dusty shoes --
students rest
under a mango tree

~ Titus

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


St Patrick’s Outing, April 2007

April dust --
handkerchief covered with mucus
cursing the month

~ Dorine Atieno (Peacock)
(6th place in St Patrick’s Outing, April 2007)


April wind --
itinerant traders
with dust on their goods

~ Teresiah Wanjiku (Bamboocha)
(9th place in St Patrick’s Outing, April 2007)


April sun --
sweat running down my
dusty face

~ Sarah Adero (Bamboocha)
(11th place in St Patrick’s Outing, April 2007)


April dust --
ants struggling to scuttle
through the dusty sand

~ John Mwangi (Bamboocha)
(12th place in St Patrick’s Outing, April 2007)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


a dusty road between
two majestic rocky walls --
Hell's Gate

car after car
blowing dust into our faces --
the constant clatter of shoes

a dead wasp resting
on the dusty window pane --
no way through glass

~ Patrick Wafula


cloudy Saturday --
children play along
the dusty road

~ Nechesa Anne


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


wash me-
the dusty windscreen reads at
at the parking bay

scorching sun--
the little pond dries up
day by day

Hussein Haji
January 2011


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


stinky dustbin-
houseflies hover over
mango peels

Andrew Otinga
January 2011


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


dusty street--
a pregnant goat feeds
on mango peels

Patrick Wafula
January 2011


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


swirling dust--
coats clean basin water
in the sun

dusty car panes--
the back writings are clear
wash me

swirling dust--
take nylon papers
deep the sky

Barrack Elung'ata
January 2011

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

chilly morning --
a brown donkey pulls
a dusty cart

Synaidah Kalahi


*****************************
Related words

***** Mud (Swahili : matope)


***** Kenya Safari Rally

***** Mud (Swahili : matope)


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::　

Dewali

nnnnnnnnnnnn TOP nnnnnnnnnnnnn

Dewali

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Changes with the Season
***** Category: Observance

*****************************
Explanation

Divali is an Indian festival and now celebrated in all Indian and Hindu communities worldwide.

Diwali (the Kenya spelling) is celebrated in Kenya, mostly by the Indian population. In Kenya, it is generally associated by all and sundry with fire crackers, which are popped all around the country for a few days, as soon as darkness falls.If one mixes a bit more in Indian circles, one might be lucky enough to be given the special sweets (only available for Diwali) and to see the rangoli (coloured patterns made with finely ground chalk) in the temples. There are special concerts (Bollywood music and more!) and no doubt plenty of other activities, including much socialising.

Isabelle Prondzynski

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


http://hinduism.about.com/library/graphics/lakshmi/wb78.jpg

*****************************
Worldwide use

India

Divali in India

*****************************
Things found on the way


*****************************
HAIKU

To be added.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


*****************************
Related words

*****

*****************************

Editor: Isabelle Prondzynski

********************
Please send your contributions to
Gabi Greve/Isabelle Prondzynski
worldkigo .....

To the WHC Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

Demolitions

nnnnnnnnnnnn TOP nnnnnnnnnnnnn

Demolitions in Patanisho

***** Location: Kayole, Nairobi (Kenya)
***** Season: Non-seasonal Haiku Topic
***** Category: Humanity

*****************************
Explanation

In the night from 23 to 24 November 2006, the houses that bordered Jacaranda and Patanisho in Kayole were demolished, leaving hundreds of families homeless.

The land where these demolitions took place, has an interesting and chequered history. Taken from the local people by the British colonialists; sold by them before Independence (1963) to a group of Kiambu Dandora Farmers; one smaller section hived off and allocated to a prominent businessman politician; fought over by the farmers, the politician’s widow and a further politician from a different party; finally grabbed by a gang of youths and sold by them to innocent and rather less innocent outsiders -- there is sufficient stuff here for a full-length novel.

The politician’s widow eventually went to court and won her case. She started to develop the empty section of her land, but wanted access also to those other parts which had been occupied and sold off by the gang. After giving the residents notice four times unsuccessfully, she asked for help from the forces of law and order.

It is thus that the police and the bulldozers arrived in the night of 23 October 2006, ordering people leave the houses immediately, and starting to demolish the structures on the land in question. The gangs turned up very soon, and they were armed. A fierce battle ensued, and one of the policemen was shot and severely injured and taken to Kenyatta National Hospital.


Photo : Patrick Wafula

The people who lost their houses include some of the young gang members and grabbers, and some of the cheated buyers, who had purchased the land innocently (but had failed to insist on title deeds). All of them suffered in the demolitions, particularly as a result of the violence caused by the gang members, and some of them suffered severe financial loss.

At the end of the story, the rule of law has prevailed, but at a cost. If it makes their business more difficult for the gang members and land grabbers, some of the price may have been worth paying... However, as the haibun and haiku below will show, innocent people suffered, and those who saw them were moved to write down their observations and their words of sympathy.

Isabelle Prondzynski.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

HAIBUN

It was on Thursday night and all was quiet. The frogs were singing their last chorus and gave humanity a chance to enjoy the rest of the night. Suddenly after midnight :

bullets crack -
the night withers
dreams disappear

Only the families that were being affected knew what was happening. For the rest of us :

fear of unknown
with soundless prayers
lay trembling

As I woke up in the morning, hoping to find the fruits of the more than four hours of gunshot, I was amazed just to see men in blue (the police) and two bulldozers. As I watched the act of the machine,

the fork went up
the houses come down
tears for breakfast

This reminded me of fifteens years ago, when living in Kangemi,

fifteen years
the ghost still alive
making desolate

when our homes were demolished. The unfolding of the painful experience made tears to flow down my eyes and so were those of everybody else around me who imagined what was about to become a painful experience.

tears water --
the muddy green land
curses all over

Kiambu is the famous name given to the particular area that was demolished (it is very different from Kiambu district). This took place after one tycoon’s widow won the case over the land dispute and now she wants to put up housing estates. Young men and women from Soweto slums had occupied some of the land.

As I write this report, the former occupants have being told to clear up, before all that is within the zone is declared as belonging to the private developer. I hope I have shed some light on the whole issue. On behalf of our parents, brothers and sisters that were affected I say thanks for your concern and prayers.

© Antony Njoroge, 2006

*****************************
Worldwide use


*****************************
Things found on the way


*****************************
HAIKU

pick-ups full of
house-holds leave Patanisho...
new refugees

bulldozers pile
rubble onto lorries...
desperate screams

mothers and children
drenched in downpour...
houses gone

fires in the open
as mothers prepare supper...
cries of hungry children

ruthless policemen
shoot in the air...
fleeing residents

on the roadside,
refugees sit with luggage...
helplessness


Photo : Patrick Wafula

a woman screams,
trying to stop the bulldozer...
police drag her away

Patrick Wafula

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

tearful eyes ..
houses demolished
leaving many homeless

Duncan (Butterfly Haiku Club)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

houses and property
destroyed by bulldozers...
houseless tenants

Jasper Ratemo (Butterfly Haiku Club)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

people crying
their building is brought down
people crowded

building down
as men hit the walls
stones everywhere

Adelaide Luvandale

*****************************
Related words

***** Jamhuri Day

*****************************
THE KENYA SAIJIKI
Please send your contributions to
Gabi Greve / Isabelle Prondzynski
worldkigo .....

Back to the Worldkigo Index

Day of the African Child

nnnnnnnnnnnn TOP nnnnnnnnnnnnn

Day of the African Child

***** Location: Kenya, Africa, worldwide
***** Season: Cool dry season
***** Category: Observances

*****************************
Explanation

The Day of the African Child (16 June)

This is a noticeable observance in Kenya. It is preceded by a build-up of several months. During this time, children practise the performances they will put on that day, adults prepare petitions or speeches, and fund-raising walks and other preparatory activities take place. Even this lead-up is well reported, as events usually happens in the city centre of Nairobi, where they draw attention to the cause of the African Child, who is being and will be celebrated.

The Day itself will have newspaper articles and TV reports on the celebrations and the speeches, as well as the many improvements still needed in the life of the African child -- education for all, an end to violence against children, water, food and sanitation for the health of children, as well as reflections on life in countries where war, kidnappings and child labour blight children’s lives.

Isabelle Prondzynski


http://www.eastandard.net/images/sato/hmpg170606.jpg

A girl sheds tears during the celebration to mark the Day of the African Child in Naivasha yesterday. Vice President Moody Awori was the chief guest.
Picture by Antony Kilonzi

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Harm children no more: Why Africa must rediscover Soweto
By Yvonne Chaka Chaka

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Eastern and Southern and Africa Yvonne Chaka Chaka, a South African musician and businesswoman, offers reflections and a call to action on the Day of the African Child


http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/images/ibc_southafrica_dayafricanc.jpg

For those old enough to remember, Soweto symbolizes courage. In 1976 during apartheid, young people my age, (I was 11), angry at being taught Afrikaans – seen as the language of oppression – decided to protest. On 16 June, 10,000 of them, mostly school children, took to Soweto’s streets in peaceful demonstrations.

The authorities responded with force. Armed police lobbed tear gas into the crowd and the students retaliated with rocks. When the mayhem was over, 152 children lay dead. The protests continued into 1977, by which time over 700 young lives had been lost. On 26 June that year, the government revoked the teaching of Afrikaans in all-black schools, a triumph for the anti-apartheid movement.

Fifteen years later, in 1991, the Organization of African Unity immortalized the Soweto Uprising by declaring 16 June the Day of the African Child. This declaration marked an official recognition of the children’s contributions to the struggle against apartheid.

This year’s Day of the African Child has as its theme, ‘Stop Violence against Children.’

Incidents of young girls, especially orphans, being raped or molested are reported every day in the media. The perpetrators – often fathers, uncles or neighbours – go unpunished because law-enforcement officers regard these crimes as domestic matters. For these children, though, the family – that sanctuary of peace and safety – has become a haven of impunity and a source of horror.

Where institutions do provide safety for abused children exist, they are woefully inadequate or poorly funded. The violence that is prevalent in the home, in fact, may simply be transferred to the institution.

We need an iron-clad resolve from the highest levels of political leadership. When they memorialized 16 June in 1991, our presidents were in effect saying, “Never again will Africa’s children be violated, abused and mowed down in the manner of the Soweto massacre.” That resolve needs to be rediscovered. Ceremony alone is simply not good enough.

Violence begets violence.
Only strong, robust action against the cycle of violence will fit the tribute that Soweto’s young heroes truly deserve.

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/southafrica_34550.html

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Celebrations in the Pumwani slums, Nairobi

All over the continent, the Day of the African Child was celebrated yesterday, 16 June 2006, in memory of the peaceful demonstration of children in Soweto, South Africa, 30 years ago.

By Morten Bonde Pedersen

In another African metropol, Nairobi, St. John’s Community Centre this week had arranged for celebrations throughout the week. The event peaked on the 16th when children from entire Pumwani were invited for a day of theater, music, performance and speeches.

Parallel to the ongoing events children from the slums took part in various activities, e.g. having their hair done and their nails and faces painted by cosmetology students from Nairobi who had all volunteered for the event.


http://ms.inforce.dk/graphics/Kenya/Pictures/DayoftheAfricanChild3.jpg

http://www.ms.dk/sw39291.asp

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The celebrations -- a schedule for 2003

UNICEF is a member of the National Steering Committee for the Day of the African Child. The Committee is chaired by the Children's Department and has a membership of about 20 NGOs. This year, the Department of Civil Registration joined the Committee because of the birth registration theme. In the week prior to Day of the African Child various activities have been planned that will include :

* 7th June - An NGO - 'Dagoretti 4 Kids'- holds an informal march and rally to protest child labour and substance abuse. The local civil registrar will talk about birth registration.

* 9th June - Week- long activities to mark the day will be launched by the Asst. Minister, Home Affairs, in Maraktwet District at a rally focusing on birth registration. Marakwet District has one of the lowest birth registration rates.

* From 10th June training of birth registration agents and social mobilization for the community-based system of civil registration at the locational level will begin in Marakwet and Keiyo districts. These activities are supported by UNICEF KCO as part of the vital statistics project.

* Between 10th and 11th June - Children's Department Launches the Guidelines on the care of orphans and other children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. The guidelines were developed by the Government in collaboration with NGO partners, the National Aids Control Programme and UNICEF.

* 11th June - ANPPCAN holds a public baraza (rally) in the Kibera slums to talk about child rights.

* 12 - 15 th June - The Girl Child Network and Plan Kenya will hold workshops for children on child rights in all the Districts where Plan has projects.

* 12 - 13th June - 'The Chambers of Justice', a human rights foundation holds an exhibition at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre on 'Investing in Children'. The significance of birth registration for investment in children will be highlighted. The exhibition will kick off the petitioning process for the 'Cancel-Debts- for-the-Child' campaign. The campaign is spearheaded by the Chambers and has the support of 20 NGOs and several Government Departments. UNICEF is one of the supporters of the campaign, which was launched on April 6, 2003 by the Minister for Home Affairs.

* 14th June - A pleasure/educational train ride for children to Naivasha organized by the NGO- Juhudi Children club.

* 16th June - Public Rally in Nairobi on birth registration. Proposed venue - Starehe Boys Centre. The Minister for Home Affairs, Hon. Moody Awori, will officiate. The UNICEF Kenya Representative will speak at the rally. A supplement on birth registration will be placed in one of the country’s leading dailies.
This will be sponsored by JICA (Japan International Co-operation Agency)
www.unicef.org/newsline/2003/dac2003inesaro.doc


*****************************
Worldwide use


*****************************
Things found on the way


*****************************
HAIKU

chattering school girls --
a child leads a blind man
jangling his shillings

Isabelle Prondzynski

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


*****************************
Related words

***** Missing Children’s Day


*****************************
THE KENYA SAIJIKI
Please send your contributions to
Gabi Greve / Isabelle Prondzynski
worldkigo .....

Back to the Worldkigo Index

Easter Bonnet

[ . BACK to TOP . ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Easter Bonnet

***** Location: Trinidad and Tobago
***** Season: Dry season
.............. Spring in Europa
***** Category:

*****************************
Explanation

The Easter bonnet tradition, derives from olden times, when people dressed up every Sunday to go to church. Ladies purchased new and elaborate designs for particular church services, and in the case of Easter, taking the opportunity of the end of Lent to buy luxury items.
Some believe that wearing three new items of clothing at Easter brings good luck.

Easter bonnets are generally round and filled with ribbons, flowers and leaves.

Another thought suggests that the Easter bonnet derives from the circlet of flowers worn at Spring rites even before the tradition of Easter.

The circular shape of the Easter bonnet symbolizes the circular shape of the sun and the full-circle return of the beginning of Spring

Today Easter bonnets are as elaborate or simple as the wearer desires and they are worn to church at Easter and or at Easter Bonnet Parades. The tradition embraces both adults and children.

Gillena Cox , Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



Click on the photo to see some more !

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_bonnet


*****************************
Worldwide use

Ireland

During my childhood in Ireland, Easter bonnets were quite the fashion -- every woman feeling that she wanted to buy a new hat in time for the Easter Sunday Mass or Church Service. Those were, of course, the days when women were expected to cover their heads in church -- and men to uncover them! I cannot remember any particular shape being preferred for the bonnets -- but I do remember that hats were sometimes not the only new fashion items bought in time for Easter Sunday...

This custom seems to have disappeared now -- perhaps because hats are no longer worn by either sex in church, perhaps because Ireland has become wealthy and people just buy the new clothes they want at any time of the year. But the word and the memories are still there...

Isabelle Prondzynski

*****************************
Things found on the way

Lavinia Dobler, author of Customs and Holidays Around the World, says Easter was once known as the "Sunday of Joy." In the USA after the Civil War, mothers and daughters began wearing colorful flowered hats and elaborate corsages as part of the celebration.

LINKS

http://www.villagehatshop.com/easter_bonnet_tradition.html

http://www.chevroncars.com/learn/fun-games/easter-bonnets

http://www.lcg.org/cgi-bin/tw/commentary/tw-comm.cgi?category=Commentary\ 1&item=1144735276


*****************************
HAIKU

bright day
the lip-stick smile of a child
in her Easter bonnet


poui blossoms
and Easter bonnet parades
season of Easter



© gillena cox 2007

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

*****************************
Related words

***** Easter

*****************************
THE KENYA SAIJIKI
Please send your contributions to
Gabi Greve / Isabelle Prondzynski
worldkigo .....

Back to the Worldkigo Index

Cool dry season

nnnnnnnnnnnn TOP nnnnnnnnnnnnn

Cool dry season

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Cool dry season
***** Category: Season

*****************************
Explanation

This is one of the four seasons we have in Kenya and other tropical areas.

It lasts roughly from June to September, with July being the coldest month.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

*****************************
Worldwide use


*****************************
Things found on the way


*****************************
HAIKU

green grass turns brown
and the maize heavy with corn...
cold dry season

Patrick Wafula, Kenya

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

*****************************
Related words

*****

*****************************
THE KENYA SAIJIKI
Please send your contributions to
Gabi Greve / Isabelle Prondzynski
worldkigo .....

Back to the WHC Worldkigo Index

Cassia Blossom

[ . BACK to Worldkigo TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::　

Cassia blossoms

***** Location: Kenya, India, Tropics
***** Season: Hot dry season
***** Category: Plant

*****************************
Explanation

An easily recognised genus of over 500 species, most of which contain a laxative chemical in the leaves or fruit pulp. Cassia senna, a shrub found from Egypt to India, is the main source of the well-known medicine of that name.

A number of exotic and indigenous tree species are widespread in Kenya, preferring open, sunny positions and well-drained soil. All have cylindrical pods and flowers with 5 petals and up to 10 stamens, often unequal in size.

Cassia spectabilis (Family : Caesalpiniaceae)
A rounded, deciduous trees to 10 m, bearing showy clusters of yellow flowers, widely planted up to 2,000 m and very common around Nairobi.

Bark : smooth, grey with horizontal markings; rougher with age.
Leaves : compound, up to 40 cm in length, with 4 to 15 pairs of leaflets, each up to 7.5 cm; leaflets narrowly elliptic, tapering to the apex, usually softly hairy below. Leaves are shed entirely, leaving the tree bare for many months.
Flowers : bright golden yellow, in erect pyramid-shaped spikes 30 cm or more in length.
Fruit : up to 30 cm long, cylindrical or flattened, honeycombed into horizontal seed chambers, persistent, turning from green to black.

Practical notes : quick-growing, flourishing even in poor or black-cotton soil, but not at its best if the site is too dry. Spectacular in flower and deservedly popular; widely obtainable from nurseries.
-- Trees of Kenya, Tim Noad and Ann Birnie, 1989.
..................................................................................................





Photos: Isabelle Prondzynski

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


This fast-growing, smallish, deciduous tree originates from tropical America and reaches a height of about 30 ft (10 m). Its rounded and somewhat spreading outline bears large, handsome and erect terminal spikes of bright yellow blossoms and is a magnificent sight when in bloom. It is a prominent sight in and around Nairobi.

-- The beautiful plants of Kenya, John Karmali, 1988.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Have a look at this beautiful picture of the Presidential Way in Lilingwe, Malawi, lined with flowering cassia spectabilis :
http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/afrika/malawi/lilongwe.htm



Caesalpinia gilliesii (Bird of Paradise Flower)



Shrubs growing in abandoned field near Mafikeng (Northwest, South Africa).
This species originates from Argentina and Uruguay.


*****************************
Worldwide use

The cassia originates in Latin America :
http://www.arbolesornamentales.com/Cassiaspectabilis.htm

In Australia, a yellow flowering cassia shrub is a kigo for autumn :
http://users.mullum.com.au/jbird/jb_H_seasons_notes.html

Cassia siamea growing in Hawaii :
http://www2.ctahr.hawaii.edu/forestry/Data/Species_Pages/Page_S.html#senna%20siamea

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

INDIA

Amaltaas blossoms
Hindi: bendra lathi (or bandarlauri), dhanbaher (or dhanbohar), girimaloah
Hindi and Urdu: amaltās (अमलतास)
Marathi: bahava (बहावा)
Malayalam: kanikkonna (or kani konna : Kerala), Vishu konna
Meitei (Manipuri): chahui
Nepali: amaltash, rajbriksya
Sanskrit: aragvadha, chaturangula, kritamala, suvarnaka
Sinhalese: aehaela-gaha (or ahalla-gass), ekela
Tamil: konrai (கொன்ற)
kigo for summer

The Golden Shower Tree (pruging cassia) (Cassia fistula) is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to southern Asia, from southern Pakistan east through India to Myanmar and south to Sri Lanka.

In Ayurvedic medicine, Golden Shower Tree is known as aragvadha ("disease killer"). Its fruitpulp is used as mild laxative, against fevers, arthritis, vatavyadhi (nervous system diseases), all kinds of rakta-pitta (bleeding, such as hematemesis or hemorrhages), as well as cardiac conditions and stomach problems such as acid reflux. The root is considered a very strong purgative, and self-medication or any use without medical supervision is strongly advised against in Ayurvedic texts.

The Golden Shower Tree was named Cassia fistula by Carl Linnaeus. The name was erroneously used by John Patrick Micklethwait Brenan for the Kenyan Shower Cassia, correctly known as C. afrofistula. Similarly, Francisco Manuel Blanco misapplied Linnaeus's name to the Apple-blossom Cassia subspecies C. javanica ssp. javanica.

©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !





the amaltaas
blooms bright yellow in the sun--
green leaves go hiding

hot wind all day--
golden chains of amaltaas
blowing away

Sunil Uniyal, India, May 2008


.................................................................................


Amaltaas In Punjabi: ਅਮਲਤਾਸ
In Hindi: अमलतास

walking under
the canopy of amaltaas --
a sudden shower

Sandip Sital Chauhan


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


"Drumstick tree"
This name is also used for the golden shower tree (Cassia fistulosa).

Moringa oleifera (synonym: Moringa pterygosperma)
is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Moringa, which is the only genus in the family Moringaceae. English common names include moringa, benzolive tree, and West Indian ben. It is also known as drumstick tree, from the appearance of the long, slender, triangular seed pods, horseradish tree, from the taste of the roots which resembles horseradish, or ben oil tree, from the oil derived from the seeds.


The tree itself is rather slender, with drooping branches that grow to approximately 10m in height. In cultivation, it is often cut back annually to 1-2 metres and allowed to regrow so the pods and leaves remain within arm's reach.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !



light drizzle -
beneath the drumstick tree
i imitate the koel

- Shared by Rosie Mann, Punjab -
Joys of Japan, 2012



INDIA SAIJIKI


*****************************
Things found on the way

Senna is a powerful cathartic used in the treatment of constipation, working through a stimulation of intestinal peristalsis.
Official Latin Name: Cassia angustifolia
http://www.viable-herbal.com/singles/herbs/s530.htm


*****************************
HAIKU

cassia blossom --
walking to the market
full of light


market stalls
laden with fruit
cassia with bloom


half moon and sun
both in Nairobi skies
its cassia flowers


Isabelle Prondzynski


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


hot season--
a cassia tree trunk peels off
the old bark

Barrack Elung'ata
February 2011


*****************************
Related words

***** Cassia, nanban saikachi (ナンバン サイカチ) Japan
南蛮皀莢
It only grows in limited warm areas of Okinawa.


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


[ . BACK to Worldkigo TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::